The present invention relates generally to a motorized point-of-purchase (POP) display for corrugated displays, figurine displays, display poles, ceiling fixtures, shelf fixtures, brochure holders and mobile displays to display items that would benefit from movement in advertising. More particularly, this invention relates to a display using piezoelectricity supplied by a quartz motor powered by a small battery to rotate a drive shaft which supports an item holder or the item itself.
POP displays are commonly used in department stores, supermarket stores, convenience stores or just about any retail store displaying goods for sale to enhance the products being sold. The store owner and manufacturer of the product benefits from having a POP display done in an attractive fashion to catch the eyes of potential customers. POP displays are typically displayed stationary with no motion.
In the past, objects which rotate on a stand have been devised for various reasons. U.S. Pat. No. 1,945,072 to Quigley discloses a display apparatus for displaying and rotating packaged goods, which are exteriorly decorated with advertising. The apparatus requires an electrical outlet for operation, a set of mirrors, and a flashlight apparatus. U.S. Pat. No. 4,764,850 to Albanese discloses a solar-powered display device for displaying a multi-faceted crystal. U.S. Pat. No. 4,970,810 to Liou discloses an electronic flower set with intermittent movement. The apparatus must be turned on and off and movement of the flower requires the receipt of a sound signal. U.S. Pat. No. 4,998,364 to Sengstaken discloses a miniature airplane and curved banner for spinning about the top of a housing. U.S. Pat. No. 5,367,808 to Liebman et al discloses a sign turner with a low power consumption controller. The devices disclosed in these patents are either too large, complex, costly, and/or unattractive for use as a point of purchase display. Furthermore, none of the disclosed devices take advantage of piezoelectric motors, which eliminates many of the undesirable qualities of the prior art displays.
Thus, there is a need for an improved POP display, which can better capture the attention of potential customers. There is further a need for a rotating display capable of displaying motion in or on a POP display. There is further a need for a POP display with motion which can be manufactured and utilized at a low cost in order to employ a multiplicity of such displays in various types of POP displays. There is further a need for a rotating display, which is small enough to be adapted for use in a POP display. There is further a need for a rotating display which takes advantage of piezoelectricity and which can be aesthetically pleasing in POP displays. There is further a need for a rotating POP display, which can accommodate various display items. There is further a need for a rotating display, which can rotate a variety of POP items economically and efficiently.
Therefore, it is a primary object of this invention to improve the quality and attractiveness of POP displays by imparting motion to the POP display or a portion thereof in which a sign or merchandise item is displayed.
It is further an object of this invention to provide a rotating motion to POP displays at a low cost to the store owner or manufacturer of the product being sold.
It is further an object of this invention to provide a motion to POP displays motorized by piezoelectricity.
It is further an object of this invention to provide a rotating display, which may incorporate a photosensitive switch for permitting operation of the rotating display in response to an ambient light. A small hole may also be provided on the side of the motor housing to allow the mounting of a photocell. A photocell may be attached to a 3 piece sandwich shaped like a penny. The outer 2 pieces are conductive with the center piece being non conductive. This xe2x80x9cpennyxe2x80x9d is placed between one end of the battery terminal and one end of the battery. As light is detected the display turns. In addition, and advantageously, when the lights go out in the room, such as at closing, the display stops rotating.
It is further an object of this invention to provide a piezoelectric rotating display for displaying items of merchandise such as a grocery item, a sporting good item, a toy, a jewelry item, and replicas thereof.
The foregoing objectives of the present invention are accomplished by a motorized POP display used in corrugated displays, figurine displays, display poles, ceiling fixtures, shelf fixtures, brochure holders and mobile displays or other items that would benefit from movement in trade. Piezoelectricity is preferably used to create the movement. When certain crystals, such as quartz, are compressed in certain directions, an electric polarization (and a corresponding voltage called piezoelectricity) is induced due to the displacement of charged atoms along the same axis. The piezoelectric effect is used in many applications around the world such as the quartz oscillator for timepieces. In a quartz oscillator, the extremely regular mechanical vibrations of a quartz crystal control corresponding electrical oscillations in a coupled electronic circuit, in a way analogous to the regulation of a mechanical clock by the oscillation of its pendulum.
The main benefit of piezoelectricity is the very low power requirement needed to create movement. Small batteries such as one xe2x80x9cAAxe2x80x9d battery can power a movement 24 hours a day for over a year depending on the weight of the display being turned. In one embodiment, the design may incorporate a photocell to detect light, which allows the movement to shut-off if no light is detected in the environment. For example, if the motorized POP display was in a place of business where the hours of operation were 12 hours a day (lights in the room turned on) and 12 hours a day closed (lights in the room turned off) then the life of the battery could effectively double.
Another benefit of using piezoelectricity is low cost. Using inexpensive quartz movements allows the cost structure of the motorized point-of-purchase displays to be very competitive against other displays that use movement. The main demand of using quartz as the material to create piezoelectricity is keeping time accurately and inexpensively because quartz has a property of generating extremely regular mechanical vibrations. This demand has allowed the cost structure of quartz movements to drop. Motorized POP displays may not always require the accuracy of movement that timepieces require but the present invention may effectively and economically use quartz movements because of the low cost structure. It is possible to substitute quartz for another crystal or ceramic material once the market for motorized POP displays becomes big enough. In addition to the low cost structure, the accuracy of movement created by the quartz oscillators may be taken advantage of in motorized point-of-purchase displays by synchronizing displays which are placed in the same vicinity as one another for creating a dramatic effect.
In a preferred embodiment, the display starts with a quartz movement that requires a battery such as a xe2x80x9cAAxe2x80x9d size. If the display is intended to rotate heavier items, a larger quartz motor powered by, for example, a xe2x80x9cCxe2x80x9d size battery may be required.
This invention provides a merchandise display comprising a rotating display device, wherein the rotating display device comprises a piezoelectric motor, a drive train connected to the piezoelectric motor, the drive train extending to the exterior of a housing of the motor, and a holder connected to the drive train exterior to the housing, the holder adapted to securely hold a sign or merchandise item. The holder may be removably attached to the drive train. The merchandise display may include multiple items of merchandise.
According to certain embodiments, the piezoelectric motor is adhered to a rear side of a section of the merchandise display, for example, with an adhesive, the drive train extending through an aperture in the merchandise display section, and the holder is attached to the drive train and located on an opposed, front side of said merchandise display section. The holder may include a shaft with a central aperture that forms a sleeve into which a drive shaft of the motor is received.
According to other embodiments, the motor may be attached to an edge of a shelf on which merchandise is displayed. Alternately, the motor may be mounted to a ceiling, and the holder is connected to the drive train in a manner that it is suspended from the motor.
The holder may be adapted to securely hold a sign with textual information advertising merchandise , or with a hologram. Alternately, the holder may be adapted to securely hold a merchandise item selected from a grocery item, a sporting good item, a toy, and replicas thereof.
The quartz movement may optionally be covered with an aesthetically pleasing cover, in which case a hole is provided through the center of the cover to allow the drive shaft to protrude through the top. Glue may then be applied on top corners of the motor to secure the movement to the cover. Alternatively, the cover may be made by injection molded plastic. The molded covers can be provided with tabs, which snap onto indents provided in existing quartz motors, which reduces labor costs.
This invention allows for different display attachments to be used on the POP display. For example, a piezoelectric motor can be used horizontally in a corrugated cardboard display by putting a small hole in the corrugated cardboard display. By attaching the piezoelectric motor to the rear of a corrugated cardboard display and placing the piezoelectric motor""s drive shaft horizontally though the hole made in the corrugated cardboard display, the piezoelectric motor is secured with adhesive mounts. A lightweight display is then attached to the drive shaft of the piezoelectric motor. The lightweight display turns with respect to the stationary corrugated display as the background. The lightweight display itself may be fabricated from corrugated cardboard, plastic, printed hologram, etc. The rotating display is attached to the piezoelectric motor""s shaft with a small snap cap. If the user would like to use a different display attachment for the rotating display, he or she may simply pull the rotating display off with slight outward pressure by hand. Then the user can, for example, snap on a different rotating display with different printed information, different shaped object or different printed hologram, etc. The rotating displays may be attached to the drive shaft of the piezoelectric motor in a number of other ways, such as by screw threads, gravity, snap-fit, or friction fit connections.
Different types of movement may be imparted to different types of POP displays, as is deemed appropriate. For example, a continuous one direction movement is ideally used for the motion of mimicking the movement of tires in a car display or a golf ball in flight. Another type of motion is rotating 360 degrees then reversing direction for 360 degrees, especially useful for holographic prints.
In an alternate embodiment, the piezoelectric motor can be attached to standard metal price rails. Standard metal price rails are used, for example, by the supermarket industry to display the price of goods for sale, typically attached to the shelf were the goods are being sold. The price rail is increasingly being used to display advertisement along with the price. The piezoelectric display is used to impart motion to the advertisement display right at the product shelf. The piezoelectric display may snap-fit into a plastic mount, with this plastic mount snap-fit into the standard metal price rail much the same way stationary displays are mounted to standard metal price rails.
In another alternate embodiment, a golf ball display employs the piezoelectric motor to turn a golf ball with a picture of a golf club in the background to simulate the motion of the golf ball in flight. This display may have a green cover for the piezoelectric motor with a tee attached to the drive shaft and a golf ball mounted on the tee. A cardboard ad of a golf club may be attached to the base of the green cover to be used as the backdrop for the golf ball. This display could be used in golf pro shops, sporting goods stores, department stores, etc.
In another alternate embodiment, a beverage display may rotate, for example, empty soda cans or soda can replicas. The piezoelectric displays may be mounted to the soda displays were the soda is being sold. The empty soda can may be attached to a small turntable via glue or other adhesives. The bottom of the turntable may have a sleeve that attaches over the drive shaft of the piezoelectric motor.
In another alternate embodiment, a greeting card display rotates new greeting cards or rotates signs announcing a new holiday such as Mother""s Day, Valentines Day, etc. The piezoelectric displays are mounted to the greeting card display where greeting cards are being sold.
In another alternate embodiment, a brochure holder display has a piezoelectric motor mounted on the back thereof. The piezoelectric display turns one of the brochures or a display sign inviting the consumer to take a brochure.
In another alternate embodiment, a ceiling display has the piezoelectric motor mounted upside down to the ceiling. A lightweight sign is attached to the drive shaft and turns an advertisement.
In another alternate embodiment, a figurine display has the piezoelectric motor mounted on top of a store display selling small figurines. The piezoelectric motor may have a turntable on which the figurine is placed. The piezoelectric display could be part of the figurine product, where the piezoelectric display is included in the package of the figurine for sale.